


cold weather friends

by greywardenblue



Series: wildfrostflight [3]
Category: Lovestruck - Fandom, Reigning Passions (Visual Novel)
Genre: Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22260124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Lyris and April are alone with a dangerous secret, but can they trust an old "friend" to keep it with them?
Relationships: Lyris/Sevastian/Main Character (Reigning Passions)
Series: wildfrostflight [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596274
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	cold weather friends

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this quickly before Lyris's update tomorrow overwrites the entire thing.

Lyris was kissing me. After months of having to keep my hands off him, after weeks of him pretending not to like me, we were alone in his room and he was kissing me. Everything was blissful.

Then somebody cleared their throat right next to us.

I pulled away quickly, and the sight of a white-haired man in dark clothes and with the dark around his eyes made the Wildergirl in me reach for my knife. But Lyris only sighed, his hand resting on my hip.

“You really need to stop doing this. What if we had been naked?”

The Silver Dagger (yes, _the actual Silver Dagger_ ) smirked in response.

“Then my night would have gotten significantly better.”

The roots of his hair were black. I only had a second to wonder about that before he walked calmly over to Lyris’s bed and flopped himself down on it.

Lyris sighed again, but this time felt more theatrical. “You left the party early. Are we to nurse your hangover, or is this just one of your moods?” His words could have been cruel, but his tone sounded teasing, if a little tired. In the end, it wasn’t really the comment about the party but the fond look on his face that completed the picture.

“Your Highness?”

Prince Sevastian opened his eyes to glance at me. He looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him - but then again, I’d only seen him around Hortensia and his father. Neither are easy to relax around. “April. I trust we can both agree to keep quiet about this.”

The implication of his words was clear. I didn’t truly think he’d tell anyone about me kissing Lyris, but it felt nice to know I had something on him too, just in case.

“We can,” I said, and he closed his eyes again, content with my answer.

Lyris laid down next to him on the middle of the bed, and patted the other side. I only wasted a second to consider how weird it would be to get in bed with Lyris and his childhood best friend, who also happened to be my employer’s cousin, and apparently a wanted outlaw. Lyris pulled me into his arms as soon as I settled on the bed, and everything else was easy to forget.

For a while, none of us spoke. Sevastian was visibly tense and frosty throughout the event earlier, and I did notice him slipping out as soon as he could get away with it. I was surprised he came to Lyris, after he’d told me earlier that Sevastian always leaves - but from the way he watched his friend like he didn’t quite believe it, Lyris seemed pretty surprised by it too.

“Is it easier this way?” Lyris asked quietly, one of his hands running through Sevastian’s white locks while the other was still holding me. “To let yourself like me for a moment?”

Sevastian caught his hand and pulled it to his heart, eyes still closed. “I never stop liking you.”

I remembered Lyris not much earlier, holding me close and saying he never wanted to pretend he didn’t like me again. It had only been a month. I couldn’t even imagine doing it for years, but maybe Sevastian could. The thought made me sad, and a little angry.

I rested my head on Lyris’s shoulder, breathing evenly. After a few more moments, Sevastian opened his eyes and pulled closer, mimicking my pose on Lyris’s other side. Jealousy rose in my chest, but I pushed it down. Between the two of us, Lyris seemed happy and at peace, and who was I to begrudge him for that? I would not be Hortensia and try to clip his wings, or keep him in a cage.

“It’s not fair,” I whispered. “It’s not fair that she thinks she can decide who you like.”

Lyris sighed. “April…” he started, but it was too late. All the anger from the last few weeks suddenly pooled together. I sat up on the bed.

“It’s not _fair_. Who does she think she is, to take your birds or try to murder your lovers, or…!”

Sevastian sat up even quicker than I did. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, looking between the two of us. In one terrified second I realised my mistake, but then his eyes were on me again and he asked, “Did she try to hurt you? Did she threaten you?”

I expected him to ask who I was talking about. I expected him to threaten me for accusing his cousin. I didn’t expect him to be concerned for me.

Lyris sat up as well, slower than we, and his face was as pale as he was the first time I told him about the fruit. “April? What do you mean, try to murder?”

I looked away. “She was in the tavern the night when you sang. She saw us go upstairs together.” I glanced at Sevastian for a moment, then back at Lyris. “Lyris, she didn’t have some kind of master plan. She didn’t expect me to survive what she gave me. She just wanted me dead.” And she implied she’d done it before, but maybe that would have been too much at once.

Lyris lay back on the pillow to process my words. Sevastian was staring at me in an unblinking way that was starting to make me uncomfortable. I was about to ask him to stop when he spoke.

“What did she give you?”

“Don’t tell him,” Lyris said suddenly, and the sharpness in his voice surprised me. I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

Sevastian flinched. “Smart,” he said slowly. “You shouldn’t trust anyone at Court.”

Lyris scoffed and punched him in the arm. “There was a time when I wouldn’t have even considered not trusting you,” he said, his face twisting in anger and hurt, then finally settling on sadness. “But I hardly know you nowadays.” He pulled his hand back, but it lingered, like his fingers weren’t ready to let go of Sevastian yet.

“It’s not fair,” he said after a while, and from his mouth the words hurt more than from my own. He reached to his face to hide his tears. “It’s not _fair_ that I have to pretend not to like the people I love the most. But what am I supposed to do? How do I keep everyone safe?”

My heart fluttered, and I wondered if I was included in those ‘people’ he was talking about. I sneaked a glance at Sevastian, and I noticed in surprise that his hair had turned almost entirely black by now. He was watching Lyris, and his face looked softer than I’d ever seen him.

He looked up at me, and I’m not sure what he saw, but he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let me help,” he said, taking Lyris’s hand. Lyris opened his eyes and looked up at him, then sat up again and put his arms around Sevastian’s neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Sevastian met my eyes and gestured for me to come closer, and I moved until Lyris was holding me against his body, Sevastian’s arms around both of us.

I still didn’t know what we were going to do, but somehow, _we_ went from two to three against the world. That was a big something.


End file.
